In a life insurance contract, the death of the insured caused by an unlawful act of the person who made the contract prevents the other beneficiaries from receiving insurance compensation.
Contract was signed by the wife, who ordered the death of the insured
With this understanding, the 3rd Panel of the Superior Court of Justice decided that the children of a couple cannot receive compensation from the life insurance of their father, whose death was caused by their mother.
The woman, who was convicted of ordering the murder, was the person who took out the life insurance. The final criminal sentence highlighted the vile motive, as the crime was committed to guarantee the receipt of the money.
The couple’s children then began a legal battle to receive the funds, which would be R$1.2 million. In the first instance, the request was denied. The Minas Gerais Court of Justice reformed its position to give them compensation.
The TJ-MG concluded that the victim was also a contractor because he was aware of the existence of life insurance. This conclusion was rejected by the 3rd Panel of the STJ, since the insured’s knowledge does not transform him into a contractor.
spurious interest
What we have is that, when making the contract, the wife had the intentional intention of carrying out the insured risk. In other words, there was no interest in preserving the life of the insured, a factor that makes the contract completely null and void, based on article 790 of the Civil Code.
“Due to the nullity, as stated in the previous item, the applicants – other beneficiaries of the insurance – are not entitled to receive the insurance compensation”, concluded the rapporteur, minister Nancy Andrighi.
The position adopted by the 3rd Panel was presented in an initially dissenting vote by Minister Marco Aurélio Bellizze. The reasons for deciding were supported by the rapporteur, so that the vote ended unanimously.
Contract validity
Bellizze highlighted that, to receive the insurance value, it is not enough for the beneficiaries to simply not have participated in the illicit act that led to the death of the insured. The legal transaction must be valid, which did not occur in the case judged.
The objective of life insurance is to provide economic protection to beneficiaries in the event of the insured’s eventual death. It cannot be used to form assets through the illicit act of the contracting party.
“The receipt of the insured capital by the other beneficiaries, who have not corroborated the intentional act, would mean the subsistence of legal effects of a legal transaction tainted, since its origin, by an act contrary to the Law – in the greatest degree of illicitness – practiced by the contracting party itself, (in this case, a person other than the insured), which does not seem possible to me”, said Minister Bellizze.
Click here to read the judgement
REsp 2,106,786
Tags: Death insured contractor prevents compensation beneficiaries
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